Following a bicycle safety proclamation during Wednesday's meeting of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Scripps medical experts will host a related webinar next week.
The free virtual event will begin at 6 p.m. on May 12 and can be accessed at sdcounty-ca-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C2Zb4V65TKSmXmp5ULFt- w#/registration.
It will cover what doctors are observing in emergency rooms, the most common causes of serious e-bike injuries, safety and risk information for parents and suggestions to keep children safe.
On Tuesday, representatives of the San Diego Bike Coalition, Scripps Trauma Prevention and YMCA joined Lawson-Remer to mark National Bike Safety Month and inform residents about e-bike accidents.
"Across our region, we have made meaningful investments to support bicycling as a healthy, sustainable mode of transportation but infrastructure alone is not enough. In San Diego County and throughout the state doctors and trauma teams are seeing a rise in serious injuries among young riders on e- bikes," said Lawson-Remer, who is also a cyclist.
"The crashes are now one of the leading causes of trauma for youth under 18," she added. "These e-bikes can and have killed pedestrians and riders."
According to Lawson-Remer's office, two major factors in e-bike accidents or deaths are youth riding in real traffic without the training required for drivers, and an increase in young riders on high-powered, illegal e-motorcycles, which can reach 60 mph and "are simply not designed for bike lanes or young operators," her office said.
Recent trends "make education and awareness more important than ever," said Lawson-Remer, whose office will conduct a series of e-bike safety classes starting in June at YMCA locations throughout the county.
More information on those classes will be available early next month.
